Carlow short-changed for a few dollars more
‘They put in the effort and deserve to play at home’
IN all his years running his hotel in Portlaoise, Declan O’Loughlin never saw the tills ringing as much as when the Dubs last rolled into town. It was 2002, Dublin were playing the Under 21 All-Ireland final against Galway, and it just so happened to be staged at O’Moore Park.
On the day, O’Loughlin was more than just an ordinary hotelier, however. As Mick O’Dwyer’s right-hand man with Laois, he was part of the backroom team when the county were crowned Leinster champions in 2003.
The fact that Dublin have buried the province under a blue wave since wrestling back control of the Leinster Championship in 2005 has been helped by the GAA’s rush for a few dollars more.
In November 2015, the hotelier made headlines after calling for Laois to boycott their Leinster Championship quarter-final against Dublin after the game was moved to Nowlan Park in Kilkenny. O’Moore Park had been deemed unsuitable.
‘It’s sad that last year we had a home game and it was played in Kilkenny to facilitate somebody along the line, whoever it was,’ O’Loughlin says.
‘There were no major answers given. We objected back in January last year. Lots of people knew what was happening even before the draw was made. That was strange. It’s very sad.’
Today, Carlow entertain Dublin – not at Netwatch Cullen Park, with all the financial benefits to the local economy such a highprofile game would entail, but at the same O’Moore Park deemed unsuitable two years ago.
‘Carlow should have a home game, which they were entitled to, and it’s in Portlaoise, which is unfair,’ he says.
For the second year in a row, a county is losing home advantage so as not to discommode Dublin’s season ticket holders, a fact with which O’Loughlin sympathises.
‘I would have loved to have seen the Laois players — my own nephew John O’Loughlin and the Kingstons — going out and playing in O’Moore Park in Portlaoise in a Championship match,’ he says. ‘It’s over 80 or 90 years that Dublin played Laois in a Championship match in Portlaoise.’
O’Loughlin refused to travel to last year’s match out of principle, and predicted that many others would follow suit.
‘If it’s held in Kilkenny, you’ll have 15-19,000 people at it. I don’t think it will sell out,’ he said at the time.
His prediction turned out to be right on the money. The attendance for the Saturday evening game was just 16,764.
And yet now it seems it’s a case of ‘here we go again’.
O’Loughlin knows first-hand what a big game can do for a local community. ‘It’s huge. I know from our takings, the biggest takings we have ever had was the U21 All-Ireland between Galway and Dublin in 2002. The Dubs were down in their droves and they were fantastic. The Dubs don’t mind travelling.’
Even if Portlaoise is getting the benefits this time around, it’s at a neutral venue which simply doesn’t compare to the partisan atmosphere of a home tie.
All this one required was some creative thinking.
Let the Dublin season ticket holders know in advance that a stand ticket could not be guaranteed for the first round. Or offer them two for the next round to reward their loyalty — it’s not as if Croke Park is going to be full.
At a central level, the GAA has already pointed out the negative trend of falling attendances caused by Dublin’s unprecedented dominance in Leinster.
Ultimately, though, the integrity of a Championship has to be the over-riding factor.
‘Carlow proved that they are able to participate with the result against Wexford,’ O’Loughlin says. ‘And they are going to give it their shot. But in your wildest dreams it would be hard to see them put one over Dublin.’
‘They all put in the same effort as anyone else and deserve to play Dublin at home.’
Mick O’Dwyer’s former assistant knows the added dimension that comes with playing against Dublin.
‘I played against Dublin in the Leinster Championship in Tullamore in ’81. And we won. And it’s by far the best memory I have in inter-county football. We had a huge support that day. Dublin down to Tullamore — you can imagine what they brought. They brought a huge crowd.’
Taking Dublin out of Croke Park was the first leap of faith taken by the Leinster Council — a decision embraced by Jim Gavin and his players. They have maintained repeatedly that they will play wherever they are asked.
This evening, Carlow get their big day out against the All-Ireland champions in front of the live Sky television cameras.
To deny the players the opportunity to run out in front of their own at Netwatch Cullen Park was an opportunity lost.